The Cascade of Medusa
by jg16395
Summary: Reality is falling apart. The Doctor knows, courtesy of Donna, that Rose is returning to this Universe. But as he thinks back to Lucius's prophecy - "She is returning..." - he wonders...could the prophecy have been multi-layered? Could someone else he treasured be returning too? There is only one way to find out... A/N: Don't own Doctor Who, never will - BBC does, always will.
1. Prologue

**A/N: At some point in this story, there are going to be similarities between this story and Ace of Gallifrey's incomplete "All The Way Home" - I wish you had managed to complete that, Ace of Gallifrey, which is why I'm doing this! Nevertheless, thanks for the idea, Ace!**

**Additional: This is Part I of my "Crimson Cub" saga.**

* * *

Prologue

**She** first caught sight of the TARDIS – _that old girl,_ she thought fondly – parked on top of a hillside near Pompeii in 79 AD. She took a contemplative gaze at the Doctor, his new companion and a Roman family staring in shock at the destruction. She wished she could do something about it, but Pompeii was a fixed point in Time and Space – it could not be changed, and even if it could, _she_ wouldn't be able to do anything; she didn't have the power to stay in her home Universe for long. Because she had been using a Charged Vacuum Emboitment, she had managed to avoid causing any Spatiotemporal scarring. But the power for the Cosmic Projector was limited, and she was now being pulled back to the pocket Universe she had inhabited for so long...

*DW*

**She** was watching a truly terrifying spectacle using a Quantoscope – a device she had devised to predict possible futures and analyse alternative Timelines. Every star in this Universe was being dissolved and extinguished – by a flattened wave of Zed Neutrino Energy. What made it worse was that the wave's point of origin was not coming from this Universe, but from her home Universe. Upon further analysis, the point of origin was confirmed as the Medusa Cascade, 2009 AD. But what could be hiding there? She had to investigate...

She wouldn't be able to take K-9 with her, and she couldn't leave her son behind. Part of her was terrified of what could happen to him, but another part acknowledged that he was capable enough to free the Tharils from enslavement. And besides, she knew that he wouldn't take no for an answer, if he was anything like his father...

*DW*

**The** Time Lady and her son, Jonathan – an Earth name she gave him in honour of his father's love of that planet – had packed the necessary equipment; Sonic Screwdrivers, Spacesuits, Artrometers, and stasers. Both of them hated weapons and hated having to use them – but it would be foolish to assume that whatever was capable of destroying Reality was not a ruthless killer. They powered up the Cosmic Projector that would take them both to N-Space, the Medusa Cascade, 2009, and felt a _whoosh_ as they were shot across E-Space through the CVE...

...and landed right on target. Upon looking upwards, they found that there was no Sun, yet people were still running and screaming. _An Atmospheric Shell,_ the Time Lady surmised. She turned to her son.

"Jonathan, I think it's safe for us to remove our helmets," she called to him over the Comm. "We're just standing here, looking ridiculous."

"I hear you, Mother," he replied, before moving to remove his helmet. His mother soon removed hers straight afterwards. When they had both removed their helmets, Jonathan continued. "I think we'd better set up camp somewhere. We don't want whatever we're up against to find us yet." He grinned a toothy grin that reminded her of the Doctor when she'd travelled with him.

She just nodded. What they were up against was obviously very powerful, and somehow, she knew that the nightmare was only just beginning...


	2. The Jacksons

The Jacksons

**Jonathan** and his mother were weaving in and out among the screaming populace of the village. However, he eventually noticed two people huddled in an alleyway, whispering to one another. One of them, the girl, looked about the Human biological age of 16, while the man looked old enough to be her father. Jonathan pointed this out to his mother, and they walked up to the whispering pair.

"Quite a shock isn't it?" his mother said calmly. The girl and the man jumped and turned to her. "What are your names?"

"Er...Alan Jackson," the man introduced himself. "And this is my daughter, Maria. And, you are?"

"Frederica," his mother replied. "But just call me Fred. And my son, Jonathan," she added, gesturing to her son.

"I noticed that neither of you were panicking to the degree that everyone else is," cut in Jonathan questioningly, twirling a curl of his hair. "Do you have any particular reason for that?"

"Well," Maria replied, hesitantly, "when you've met and worked with Sarah Jane Smith, you tend to believe most things."

Frederica just stared in shock. "You know Sarah Jane Smith?" she asked them.

"Yeah...do you know her?" Maria returned the question.

"I heard some stuff about her from a man called the Doctor," Frederica replied.

"Don't tell me...you know the Doctor as well?" asked Maria. She'd heard about this strange Doctor Sarah Jane had travelled with, but she'd never actually met him.

"Yes, I did," Frederica confirmed. "A stranger man you could not find, even for a Time Lord."

"I'm sorry, but...what's a Time Lord?" asked Alan curiously.

"A Time Lord is someone like the both of us," Frederica replied, once again gesturing to both her and Jonathan.

"But...you look Human!" Maria protested.

"Er, no..._you_ look Time Lord! We evolved first!" Jonathan told them.

"So are there other Time Lords?" Maria asked the pair of them.

Frederica hesitated before replying. "I don't know. When I got back to this Universe – long story, just don't ask – I expected to hear their telepathic traces. But they've all vanished...save the Doctor's, and in this place," she gestured to the sky, "it's very faint. Now, we've no Time to waste...do you have shelter?"

"Yeah," Alan answered, a bit flustered at Frederica's explanation, but getting some kind of grasp on her words. "It's about a five-minute walk from here."

"Right then," Frederica said. "Can you take us there?"

*DW*

**A** few hours later, Alan, Maria, Jonathan and Frederica were sheltering in the basement from the attack outside. The ground was shaking with the force of the high-energy blasts that bombarded the surface. They had heard the message from the ships overhead;

"EX-TER-MI-NATE! EX-TER-MI-NATE!"

Eventually, Maria spoke up, terror laced in her voice. "What are they?" she whispered to Frederica fearfully.

"They're called Daleks," the Time Lady told the younger woman darkly. "They're creatures housed in a life-support system made of a material called Polycarbide, or Dalekanium. They're also genetically engineered to hate all other life-forms – anything that's not a pure Dalek is their enemy. They won't stop until they've killed every other being in the Universe."

"Who would design such a thing?!" cried Alan, shocked.

"I've met the man – or monster, for want of a more suitable word – that created them – Davros, his name was," Frederica replied. "On their home-world, Skaro. The Daleks tried to dig him out of the ruins of their Old City, in the hope that he could help them to understand irrational, intuitive thought."

"When you say, 'tried to dig him out,'" Maria cut in, "what do you mean? Surely if he'd been trapped in an old city, he would have died."

"According to the Doctor, the Daleks killed him when they thought they no longer needed him, because he wasn't a Dalek himself," Frederica explained. "But he had a secondary life-support system in his chair, which repaired the tissues in his body whilst holding his organs in long-term suspension. Now, we don't have much more Time to talk about the origins of the Daleks – so let's formulate a plan."

"But what can _we_ do against _them?!"_ Alan asked exasperatedly. "None of our weapons can get through that armour!"

Before either Frederica or Jonathan could answer, the laptop in the basement turned itself on – and a voice emitted from it...

"Hello? Can anybody here me?" the voice asked – upon attentive listening they found that it was female. "The Subwave Network is open – you _must_ be able to hear my voice..."

"I recognise that voice..." Alan spoke up. "That's Harriet Jones..."

"Who's Harriet Jones?" asked Jonathan curiously.

"She was a former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom," Maria answered. "But she got sacked due to a health scare..."

"Has this computer got anything to establish visual contact?" Frederica asked them.

"Yes, but it can't be a Wireless Connection," replied Alan sadly. "We need to hook it up to a Live Cable Network."

"Has this place got one?" asked Jonathan hopefully.

"Yes, upstairs," Maria confirmed.

With that, the foursome rushed upstairs onto the first floor of the flat. When connected, they would be able to talk to the others on the Subwave Network...

* * *

**A/N: Quite a quirk, adding the Jacksons in, right? But I'm a bit of a sucker for SJA - I like it better than the other spin-off show (Torchwood). People can argue about that, but it's what I prefer. Stay tuned...**


	3. The Subwave Network

The Subwave Network

**"Captain** Jack Harkness, shame on you!" shouted the voice on the Main Computer in the Torchwood hub. "Now stand to attention, sir!"

"What?" cried Jack Harkness in surprise. "Who is that?" He ran over to the Screen. When the signal clear up, a middle-aged woman appeared.

"Harriet Jones, former Prime Minister," she introduced herself.

"Yeah – I know who you are," Jack sighed, amused. Seriously, did this woman make a habit of this or something?

"Sarah Jane Smith, 13 Bannerman Road," continued Harriet. "Are you there?"

"Yeah – I'm here," Sarah Jane confirmed.

"Good!" cried Harriet, smiling in relief. "Hold on, let's make it so we can all talk to one another." With that, she began working the keyboard...

*DW*

**Rose** Tyler was monitoring the Subwave conference from the Noble residence in Chiswick. The Nobles didn't have a webcam, so she couldn't take part in the discussions to come – she could only watch as one by one, the participants appeared on the laptop. Harriet Jones, Sarah Jane and Captain Jack had already been connected, but the fourth portion of the screen stayed awash with static.

"Hold on," Harriet informed the others. "The fourth contact seems to be having trouble getting through."

"Harriet, it's me!" Rose cried. But when the fourth screen cleared, a young black woman appeared in the conference, with another woman who was undoubtedly her mother.

"Hello?" she called.

"Ha...Martha Jones!" cried Jack, his voice full of relief.

"Who's she?" Rose asked, puzzled. But before anyone could speak further, the screen – or at least, everyone's own portion of the screen in separate points across the globe – was overcome with static.

"A fifth contact!" exclaimed Harriet in shock. "I'm boosting the signal now!"

Moments later, a strawberry blonde woman appeared on the screen, along with a curly dark brown young adolescent boy. Both were clad in blazers, scarves and hats, but the boy was wearing a shirt and a pair of trousers, while the blonde woman was wearing a blouse and a skirt. Suddenly they both grinned, and everyone saw a look of shock on Sarah Jane's face.

"No...it can't be," she gasped. "It...can't be the Doctor!"

"What do ya mean, Miss Smith?" asked Jack curiously. "Of course that's not the Doctor. At least...last time I checked," he added.

The blonde woman on the screen chuckled. "No...he isn't the Doctor, though you're both rather close," she told them, smiling. "Right then – introductions, followed by preparations! My name is Romanadvoratrelundar."

"Captain Jack Harkness," Jack introduced himself with a roguish grin.

"Do you mind not flirting, thanks?" asked the boy in exasperation.

"I'm just saying 'hello!'" protested Jack, though this boy reminded him of the Doctor.

"Well, for you, saying 'hello' means flirting, apparently!" the boy returned. He then turned back to the woman called Romanadvoratrelundar. "And what the hell is wrong with him, anyway? I mean, all my senses tell me to run away...if I could run away from something so far away."

"What you're sensing, Jonathan, is that he's a fixed point in Time," she explained. "The Universe basically refuses to accept the possibility of him dying. It can be a very sickening experience for a fully-fledged Time Lord."

"Wait a minute!" Martha interrupted curiously. "Did you say Time Lord? You're a Time Lord?"

"Well..." the woman explained. "My son here only has some of the Time Lord abilities, as he wasn't taken into the Academy. But those abilities were something he got from me. I'm a Time Lady. You can call me Romana, by the way."

Martha's mother, Francine, was staring with a mixture of shock, awe and fear. "How do we know you're not dangerous?" she interjected suspiciously.

"Is there any reason I should be dangerous to anyone but the Daleks?" Romana replied coldly.

Martha spoke up to explain. "About a year ago," she began haltingly, "my family was imprisoned and tortured, for a Year That Never Was, by a Time Lord known as the Master."

"Then why can't I sense his parasitic mind in my head? Why is it I can only sense the Doctor's mind, however faint that is?" Romana demanded. She had noticed a deafening telepathic silence upon returning to N-Space, and the implications it brought were very provoking of her dread. But no-one answered.

*DW*

** Rose** was watching the conference with a mixture of suspicion and awe. One part of her was happy that the Doctor was no longer alone in the Universe, another part was wondering just how amazing this Romana was. But the final part of her had a strange inkling that this woman had a deeper connection to the Doctor than she could ever hope to have.

Sarah Jane took the chance to speak up. "The Doctor told us that the Time Lords died, Romana," she informed the Time Lady sadly, knowing that it was impossible to lie to this Time Lady. "They went to war with the Daleks...and they lost."

Tears glistened in Romana's eyes, but they did not fall. "By Omega," she gasped chokingly. "I can't believe it. My friends...my family...all gone."

Jonathan put his arms around his mother in consolation. "You've still got me, Mother," he told Romana soothingly. "And we'll find a way to get back to him – believe in that."

Romana nodded, before giving her full, undivided attention to the conference. "Thank you for telling me, Sarah Jane. And incidentally, I have something to tell you."

"What's that, then?" asked Sarah Jane, curiosity piqued.

"When I travelled with the Doctor, he often told me about his travels with you," Romana informed her. "From what I heard, you were the best of Humanity. And when Jonathan was born, I thought perhaps he might need an honorary guardian, should anything happen to me." She turned to her son. "Jonathan?"

"Ah, yes," her son continued. "Hello, Auntie Sarah!"

Sarah Jane stared in shock. "Really?" she asked, tears in her eyes at this news.

"Oh yes," Romana confirmed. "I couldn't think of anyone better." She really _hadn't_ been able to, after the description the Doctor gave her. How ironic that now, in the darkest, most hopeless of moments, she had formed a new bond with one of the most compassionate Humans in all of History.

Sarah dried her eyes with a handkerchief. "He really _didn't_ forget me, did he?" she mused. "Well – now it looks like Luke has a step-cousin!" She chuckled while her son looked shocked.

"Is Luke there?" called a voice from behind Romana.

"Maria?" Luke replied over the Network. "Is that you?"

Eventually, she joined in the conference on Romana's portion of the screen.

"Luke!" Maria cried in relief. "I was worried the Daleks had killed both you and Sarah Jane!"

"We're all fine at this end, Maria!" Sarah told her, assuaging her fears. She then turned her attention back to Romana. "But...Romana, I noticed that you've named your son Jonathan...it's similar to the Doctor's pseudonym – 'John Smith.' Does that mean...Jonathan, are you..."

He nodded, and the words he spoke next were the ones that gave everyone on the Subwave Network a shock. "He's my father."

*DW*

**Rose** was in blank shock. The news that this boy, Jonathan, was the Doctor's son, all but confirmed that she had no hope of getting back with him. Romana, of all the people the Doctor had previously travelled with, had evidently been the closest. Close enough to have a child with him...

But somehow, Rose couldn't bring herself to hate the Time Lady on the screen. Both Romana and her son were now the closest thing to a real family the Doctor had. If that could lift him out of his nightmare of loneliness, then maybe...just maybe, she could accept what was happening today.

Over the Network, Jack whistled. "Wow...I didn't know the Doctor had it in him," he laughed.

"In that case, Jonathan," interjected Martha, "promise us something."

"Yes, Martha Jones?" he registered.

"Don't do something stupid, like dying on your father," she told him sternly. "Apart from the TARDIS, you and Romana are the only ones he's got left from his home."

"Cross my hearts," Jonathan swore, giving a grin that reminded both Sarah Jane and Romana of _their_ Doctor's toothy grin. "But we'll have Time for a cosy catch-up later – right now, we should be worrying about the pepperpots invading the planet." He then proceeded to question the others...


	4. The Children of Time

The Children of Time

**"How** is this sort of technology even possible on a Level 5 planet such as Earth?" asked Jonathan, as he began using his Sonic Screwdriver to analyse the Network. "Subwave technology is _never_ the product of Earth civilisation."

"Well," admitted Harriet, "I developed it. It was invented by the Mister Copper Foundation. It's a sentient piece of software designed to locate and contact anyone affiliated with your father, Jonathan." As she said this, she knew she was still curious as to how the Doctor would have Time for a family.

"But what about the Daleks?" Martha asked worriedly. "Can't they hear us?"

"No," Romana interjected, assurance in her voice. "Subwave signals are undetectable unless they undergo a massive boost of constructive interference. Ergo, they won't hear us until that happens."

"Hold on, Harriet," interrupted a confused Sarah Jane. "You're trying to get the Doctor here, but answer me this – didn't he depose you?"

"Yes," Harriet confirmed, "and I've often wondered about whether I was wrong. But I stand by what I did – I knew that one day, the Earth would be in danger, and the Doctor would fail to appear. I told him so myself, and he _didn't_ listen." She paused, which gave Jonathan the opportunity to speak up.

"Hold on a minute," he announced suddenly. "There's a sixth signal trying to get through."

"A sixth?" asked Martha incredulously. "Then why didn't it show?"

"Visual contact may not be possible in both directions," Romana cut in. "Whoever they are, they can see us – but we can't see them."

"I _can_ establish a link," assured Jonathan, "but it'll be audio only. We'll only be able to hear and speak to them." He activated his Screwdriver and static was heard throughout the Network. After a few moments, he spoke. "Hello? Is somebody there?"

"Loud an' clear," replied a female voice. "Long Time, no see, Captain, Harriet, Sarah Jane."

At this, the aforementioned people gasped. "Rose?" asked Sarah Jane, hoping it was the girl she'd met at Deffry Vale High School. "It _is_ Rose I'm talking to, isn't it?"

"Yep," Rose's voice confirmed. "Reports of my death, greatly exaggerated. Now then, Jack, how'd you get back from the year 200,100?"

"Vortex Manipulator," replied Jack proudly, showing his wrist device for all on the Network to see. "I tried to get back to the 21st Century – best place to find the Doctor – but I overshot and ended up in the 1800's. Then it burnt out – kaput."

When Rose replied, her voice was full of confusion. "But then, you're more than a hundred years old."

"And looking good, right?" Jack grinned. Truth be told, there was a point in Time when he'd been ready to die. But being an Immortal had its perks.

"Not now, Captain," Romana and Harriet sighed simultaneously.

"Now then, getting back to subject," Jonathan steered the conversation back to the task at hand. "What we're doing now is trying to pool our resources together."

"The Doctor's secret army," Harriet confirmed.

"Well, I thought 'Children of Time' would be more appropriate, Harriet," Jonathan said thoughtfully. "But you've got the basic idea, yes."

"Hold on," Jack cut in, catching on quickly. "We boost the signal, that's it. We could supply some constructive interference with the power of the Rift-"

"And we've got Mr. Smith!" piped up Luke. "He can connect to every mobile phone network on the planet – _billions_ of phones all calling out at once!"

"The chap's a genius!" Jonathan cried gleefully. "I knew I liked him!"

"Tell me about it," Maria commented wryly.

"Hold on, though," Rose's voice cut in. "It's like Romana said – the Daleks'll be able to find the Network once the signal's boosted."

"And they'll trace it back to me," Harriet confirmed, resigned to her fate. But Romana wasn't going to have that – not if _she_ could do anything about it.

_"But,_ I can create a scrambler signal to interfere with their Communication Monitoring Systems," she told them. "Though it won't stop them from detecting the Network, it _will_ stop them from tracing in back to the source." She paused before continuing. "Now then, to it."

*DW*

**"Activating** the Rift," Jack informed the newly formed team. This was impossible, but he liked impossible – because impossible was what defined travel with the Doctor.

"Linking up to every mobile phone network," Sarah Jane registered her progress. As she did, she thought back to the last time she'd said goodbye to the Doctor – it really _hadn't_ been goodbye, after all.

"Sending you the number," Martha added in her two pence. Looking back to her travels, she _had_ always thought she was second-best. But when she left, she'd been right – she _was_ good.

"Creating scrambler signal," Romana told them. Part of her was curious to see what the new Doctor looked like – as she had not seen him in over a century and Jack had said that Jonathan did not look anything like his father right now.

"Opening the Subwave Network," Harriet finished the preparations. This was an opportunity to atone for the sin of mass-murdering the departing Sycorax on Christmas 2006. And she was going to take it.

"Mr. Smith...make that call!" Sarah Jane instructed her supercomputer.

"Calling...the Doctor!" Mr. Smith announced. At once, every phone in the world began calling the Doctor's phone. Now, all they could do was wait...

*DW* **_onboard the TARDIS..._** *DW*

**"PHONE!"** the Doctor shouted, immediately racing to answer it. "Martha, is that you?!"

"What is it?" asked Donna. "What's happening?!"

"It's not a call," the Doctor replied. "It's just a signal."

"Well, can you follow it back?!" Donna questioned him.

"Oh..." the Doctor paused, "...just you watch me." So saying, he hooked the phone up to the Guidance Systems of the TARDIS. At once, the Capsule was shaken violently as it was dragged into the Temporal Pocket pervading the Medusa Cascade.

When it was over, the Screen was displaying the twenty-seven planets that had been stolen from their individual Space-time coordinates. The Doctor and Donna were overcome with relief.

"What just happened?!" cried Donna in shock.

"The entire Medusa Cascade has been put just a second out of sync with real Time," the Doctor explained to her. "A tiny little pocket of Time – but we found 'em!"

Just then, the Screen began to buzz with static. "Ooooh..." the Doctor remarked curiously. "Must be a Subwave signal...someone's trying to get through..."

Eventually, the Screen came back into focus – but instead of the twenty-seven planets, there were five faces lined in a roster on a Subwave Network. Jack, Martha, Harriet Jones, Sarah Jane...and a boy he couldn't recognise – not even using the telepathic trace that the boy emanated. However, with his curly dark hair, he looked very reminiscent of the Doctor's 4th self.

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YA BEEN?!" yelled Jack angrily. "Doctor, it's the Daleks!"

Those words were the ones that confirmed his theory. The Doctor had suspected that the Daleks had moved the Earth from its position in Space-time – for they'd tried to do something like that before, back in his 1st life. But before he could ponder the subject, the participants of the Network broke into an urgent ramble.

"The Daleks...they're taking prisoners!" cried Sarah Jane.

"It's not just Dalek Caan!" Martha told him.

When they'd finished, Harriet spoke up. "I believe I told you once, Doctor, that one day the Earth would be in danger...and you would fail to appear when it mattered the most," she told him cuttingly. "But better late than never, I suppose."

"Haven't got the Time, Harriet Jones," the Doctor shot back in a dismissive manner. He didn't think he could forgive her for the murder of the departing Sycorax, to whom he'd given an ultimatum to which they'd complied.

"Before you give me the silent treatment, Doctor," Harriet interjected impatiently, "this boy is very anxious to speak with you."

"Who is he, then?" asked the Doctor. But the answer was given by Martha – and it was a shocking revelation to him.

"According to him, Doctor, he's your son," she told him with a smile.

"My _what?!"_ he cried in shock.

"Yep," the boy confirmed, grinning a toothy grin. "My name's Jonathan, by the way. Hello, Father."

The Doctor looked at his newly-discovered son – Jonathan – with joy. He wasn't alone in the Universe any longer – at least, he didn't think he was. But he had to be sure. Jonathan, however, had resumed talking.

"There are two others who are anxious to meet you, by the way," he told his father. "One of them is a friend of yours – and the other is my mother. I think your friend introduced herself as Rose."

"Rose is here?" asked the Doctor in surprise. Jonathan nodded. "So...she got back from the parallel Universe."

"And she isn't the only one, Father," his son continued, fixing him with a knowing look in his eyes – eyes that looked so familiar to him. "I'm a child of E-Space."

"E-Space?!" exclaimed the Doctor, his hearts soaring, his face lit up with unbridled joy. "But that means..."

"Hello, Doctor," rang a voice from Jonathan's screen as a strawberry blonde figure came into the picture. Of all the companions he'd had, _this_ wonderful woman was the one who was unique in _every_ sense of the word...

"Romana?" he gasped, happiness and relief coursing through him. This was soon replaced by shock. "Romanadvoratrelundar? You...had a child?"

"Yes, Doctor. I had a child...yours," Romana told him with a smile. "And I see you still haven't forgotten my name. I'm impressed."

"Well, I was hardly going to call you 'Fred,' was I?" the Doctor snorted. At this everyone else – even Harriet – burst out laughing, while Romana blushed a furious red in embarrassment. But the Doctor's tone quickly became a questioning one. "Romana, how did you get back?"

"Well..." she began hesitatingly, "it wasn't easy. Sometime before the Tharils were completely liberated, the CVE constricted so much that it was impossible for any large group of matter to traverse the Void - though it would still allow energy through, and Spatiotemporal analysis was still possible. Nearing the completion of their liberation, the Tharils sensed a crack in Reality that could be traced back to this Universe. It was pinpointed to 2007, London, Canary Wharf – and it got bigger as Time passed."

"I can explain that," the Doctor interjected. "Two years ago, the Daleks, using a Void Ship, broke down the walls of Reality in an effort to escape the Void. A parallel version of the Cybermen followed them, helped along by the former Head of Torchwood One. I opened the crack wide enough that it would pull anything soaked in Void Stuff back into the dead Space. With that, the walls of Reality sealed off."

"Only to be opened again two years later, it seems," Romana concluded that section of the story. "Because soon, the CVE became wide enough for physical travel. But there's something else, Doctor...something far worse. When I used my Quantoscope to analyse alternate Timelines, I found a horrifying possibility. Every star in E-Space was going out and disintegrating..."

"That's what was happening in our world too, Doctor," spoke Rose Tyler's voice over the Network. "Basically, we've been building a...Dimension Cannon. As well as travelling to other Universes, it can measure Timelines...and every star was going out. Not just in your world...not just in ours...not just in Romana's, but the whole of Reality. Even the Void was dead. Something is destroying everything..."

"And I know what," Romana told them. "Because now it adds up. I also found out the source of the destructive force behind it all. The stars were being destroyed by a compressed wave of Zed Neutrino Energy."

"And what's...compressed Zed Neutrino Energy?" asked Sarah Jane worriedly – but nothing would prepare her for the horror she felt upon what the Doctor told her – or was about to tell her before Mr Smith interrupted.

"Every atom in the Universe – or any other Universe with the same Laws of Physics as our own, for that matter," he began with the aura of a Professor, "is bound by an electrical field – compressed Zed Neutrino Energy nullifies this Electromagnetism. If one such wave were broadcast from the Medusa Cascade – the most powerful rift in Space-time – it would break through the rift into every alternative and/or parallel Reality. All things would be turned to dust by the energy, while the Universes they inhabit would become a mass of particles, punctuated by a maelstrom of black holes."

Everyone gasped in horror – none more so than the Doctor and Romana. But this was to be expected from the likes of the Daleks, who sought to exterminate all other life-forms in existence. And speaking of which...

Everyone's screen was overwhelmed by static. Evidently, the Daleks had decided it was now the moment to interrupt the reunions.

"Hello?" the Doctor asked. But for all his shock about the imminent destruction of Reality, nothing could have prepared either him, Sarah Jane _or_ Romana for the horror that the voice that spoke over the Network could instil them with...


	5. Davros & the Regeneration

Davros & the Regeneration

**"Your** voice is different..." a rasping voice spoke, grating like that of a Dalek. "And yet...its _arrogance_ is unchanged."

*DW* **_13 Bannerman Road...Sarah Jane's POV..._** *DW*

**"No!"** Sarah Jane whispered in horror. "He's _dead!"_

*DW* **_unknown location...Romana's POV..._** *DW*

**"So..."** Romana mumbled quietly. "He escaped his imprisonment..."

"Who did?" Jonathan asked her, equally as quiet. "Who is that, Mother?"

His mother fixed him with a stare that spoke volumes of her dread. "One of your father's mortal enemies..."

*DW*

**Suddenly,** a scarred, deformed, crippled mutation of a man appeared on the TARDIS Viewscreen – one the Doctor recognised at once. "Welcome to my new Empire, Doctor," the creature on the Screen announced. "It is only fitting that _you_ should bear witness to the Resurrection and the Triumph of Davros...Lord _and_ Creator of the Dalek Race." The Doctor just stared in blank shock. "Have you nothing to say?" Davros taunted him.

"But...you were destroyed," the Doctor whispered in horror – for he now knew the implications of what could happen. Davros would recognise Romana at once, owing to the fact that she had witnessed his awakening on Skaro so many years ago, and she would be in mortal peril if he discovered she was a Time Lady – even more so if he found out the truth about Jonathan. "In the first year of the Time War...I saw your Command Ship fly into the jaws of the Nightmare Child! I tried to save you..." In retrospect, _that_ was a foolish thing to do – for Davros would only have carried on being as evil as ever.

"But it took one stronger than _you..."_ Davros informed him. "Dalek Caan himself." With that, he flipped the switch on his wheelchair which controlled the Light Circuit, and a spotlight was placed on the last member of the Cult of Skaro. After a moment, Caan spoke.

"I _flew_ into the wild and fire..." he rambled madly. "I danced and died...a _thousand_ times!"

Davros cut in with an unnecessary explanation. "Emergency Temporal Shift took him back into the Time War itself."

"That's impossible!" the Doctor spat furiously. "The _entire_ War is _Time-Locked!"_

"And yet, he succeeded," the Dalek creator said, in a voice that would have fit someone shrugging their shoulders. "Oh, it cost him his mind...but imagine, Doctor. A single, simple Dalek succeeded...where _Emperors_ and _Time Lords_ have failed." Those phrases were spoken with the utmost contempt...and the Doctor knew why – Davros didn't like Daleks usurping his self-imagined authority, and he'd developed a hatred of Time Lords ever since the end of their second encounter. "A testament, don't you think, to my _remarkable_ creations."

"And you made a new race of Daleks?" the Doctor asked in disgust.

"I gave myself to them...quite literally," Davros informed him, unfastening his tunic. "Each one grown from a cell of my _own_ body..." As he said this, he pulled the front of the tunic away, revealing the sickening sight underneath...

*DW* **_back on Earth...Romana's POV..._** *DW*

**What** Romana had just witnessed was the most obscene biological revelation ever imaginable. She evidently hadn't realised how single-minded Davros could be about the continued existence of the Daleks.

"New Daleks..._true_ Daleks," Davros unknowingly told everyone on the Subwave Network. "I have my Children, Doctor. What do _you_ have...now?"

"After all this Time...after _everything_ we've lost...I only have one thing to say to _you,"_ the Doctor paused dramatically before speaking again. _"BYE!"_ With that, Romana knew he had begun to head for Earth.

"Right then," she stated firmly, tossing a teleport each at the Jacksons, which both caught. "Jonathan, get your equipment and set off for Bannerman Road. Maria, Alan, go with him. It's time we put an end to this once and for all."

"Good luck," Maria told her with a smile, while Alan gave her a wave. "And be careful."

Romana and Jonathan each returned the smile with a grin – Jonathan's being the toothiest of them. Equipment gathered, they then activated their teleports – with a _whoosh,_ Romana found herself in close proximity to the TARDIS's landing coordinates.

She took the opportunity to survey their surroundings and activated her Artrometer, which would direct her to the TARDIS like a compass, due to the fact that the Capsule was bristling with Artron Energy. But before she could monitor the device, she was taken unawares by a grating metallic voice.

"STAY WHERE YOU ARE! DO NOT MOVE!" a Dalek bellowed. At this, Romana spun round to face the Dalek. But instead of firing its blaster, the Dalek entered a panic frenzy. "A-LERT! A-LERT! FULL A-LERT! PRI-SO-NER IS ARMED WITH A STA-SER! PRI-SO-NER IS-"

But before it could complete the sentence, the Dalek's dome was blown sky-high by another energy weapon. When the Time Lady turned to find the source of the beam, she found a blonde girl wielding a heavy ray-gun. "D'ya go lookin' for _this_ kind of trouble? Or are ya jus' unlucky?" she asked wryly.

Romana recognised her voice from the Subwave Network – this was evidently Rose Tyler. But her appearance was one that alarmed Romana – for she had seen this face over a century ago in her lifetime. But now wasn't the time to get nostalgic – she had to find the Doctor. How opportune it was, at that moment, that the Artrometer finally indicated a reading.

"What's that?" asked Rose curiously.

"Artrometer," Romana answered. "It detects Artron Energy – the background radiation picked up by a Time Traveller," she added for clarification. "TARDISes are bristling with them. And right now, I'm trying to use this to find the Doctor's – ah! I've got a reading!" she announced. She then beckoned to the others. "This way!"

*DW*

**Sometime** later, the twosome caught sight of the Doctor, Donna Noble and the TARDIS. However, only Donna seemed to have caught sight of the pair. She finally said something to which the Doctor turned around – and gazed right at them.

Moments later, they both rushed to embrace him. And they nearly did, but for one thing neither party had considered...

"EX-TER-MI-NATE!" a Dalek screeched. Not a few seconds later, an energy bolt erupted from its blaster and the Doctor fell like a puppet that no longer had any strings.

"NO!" Romana shouted. The Doctor couldn't die now – Jonathan barely knew his father. She was about to turn her staser on the loathsome creature that was the Dalek, but someone else beat her to it – when she looked around, she found that the someone in question was Captain Jack Harkness, wielding what looked like a modified early 201st Millennium defabricator, which he used to eviscerate the Dalek.

Eventually, the pair got to the Doctor's collapsed form, soon joined by Jack and Donna. Romana cradled her once-long-ago lover in her arms, trying to ease the pain.

"Romana..." the Doctor gasped, grinning a grin worthy of his 4th self in spite of his pain. "It's great to have you back...more than great, _brilliant..."_

"It's wonderful to be back," Romana told him. "Separated by Reality no more..." The Doctor tried to reply, but what came out was a cry of pain. "Don't give in! You're not dying here...you can get through this!" Even as she said this, she knew there was a possibility he would not – this thought threatened to overcome her.

"COME ON! GET HIM INTO THE TARDIS!" yelled Jack. "QUICKLY, BEFORE MORE DALEKS GET HERE!"

*DW* **_in the TARDIS..._** *DW*

**When** the group finally _did_ get him into the TARDIS, it was a frantic, panicked riot in the Console Room.

"What are we gonna do?!" cried Donna, at a complete loss as to how to help her best friend. "There must be some medicine or something!"

"Get back!" called Jack nearby. "You two! Do as I say and get back!" He shouted at both Romana and Rose. "He's dying, and you know what happens next! Especially _you,_ Romana!"

"Do you think I don't know what happens, Harkness?!" she bit back snappily. "I _have_ been through this! This," she gestured to herself, "isn't my 1st life!"

"What d'ya mean?!" shrilled Donna, frustrated at the lack of answers. "What d'ya mean, 'what 'appen's next,' or, 'this isn't my 1st life?'"

Romana's mind touched the Doctor's. She could feel the fear of his impending departure. _I'll still love you, Doctor,_ she assured him. _Capricious and arrogant though you are, I love you..._

_That's why I can't go yet,_ he called to her. _Because I love you too, Romana._ _I've got to stay for Jonathan as well. I can't assume he knows about regeneration..._

_Doctor, you can't cheat death,_ Romana told him sternly.

But he said only one thing; _Just you watch me. Now get back!_ With that, the contact broke.

"Rose, we've got to get back! It's happening now!" Romana commanded the girl beside her. But Rose wouldn't budge.

"But he can't!" she choked out.

"He's got to do this in order to survive!" Romana snapped, frustrated at the lack of action on Rose's part. "Now get back! This can be an explosive process!" With that, she managed to persuade the girl to get back.

Romana and Jack then proceeded to usher Rose and Donna into a corner of the Console Room. "Good luck, Doctor!" Jack told him. He could only imagine how painful the process was the last time he regenerated.

"WILL SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Donna shrieked finally.

"When a Time Lord or Lady is dying," Romana began, trying her best to explain it in layman's terms, "his or her body heals itself by changing every single cell. It's called regeneration."

"But you can't!" Rose cried finally, overwhelmed with tears. She might not have any chance with the Doctor anymore, as Romana – someone who totally outshined her, no question - was here, but that didn't mean she would be ready to see him change. It had been hard enough with the last regeneration.

"It's too late," the Doctor told them sadly. "I'm regenerating." With those words, he burst into vibrant orange flames as the regeneration kicked in...


	6. The Crucible

The Crucible

**...when** suddenly, he spun on the spot and directed the regenerative energy in to the jar containing a severed hand. After the regeneration finished, the Doctor was still just the same as ever.

"Now then...where were we?" he asked the group, as though this were something they all saw everyday. "There now," he spoke to his hand, as though it were a living person. He then began to launch into a rambling explanation – one which was directed at the Humans. "I used the regeneration to heal myself, but once that was done, I didn't need to change. I didn't _wanna_ change – why would I wanna _change?_ So I siphoned the rest of the regeneration energy...into my spare hand." The Doctor turned to Rose. "Remember? Sycorax? Christmas Day? Lost my hand in a swordfight?"

For a moment, Rose was speechless. Eventually, however, she found her voice again. "You're...still _you?"_ she asked hesitantly.

The Doctor just nodded. "Yep," he confirmed, emphasis on the 'p.'

Romana decided to cut in. "You really shouldn't have done it, you know," she sighed, a weak, mischievous smile on her face, but there was a forced quality to it – which the Doctor did not fail to register.

"Well, you're one to talk!" he mock-scolded her, pointing a finger at her. _"You_ once regenerated into a copy of someone _else's_ body!" At this, Rose and Donna looked shocked, while Jack laughed. "And then tried on three others before settling on this!"

Romana's smile became wry. "That was different!" she chortled, laughing. "That was the same as _you_ regrowing a hand! I just had the energy to change my entire body!" After a few moments, her laughter faded, to be replaced by a serious tone. "And while we're on the subject of regeneration, need I remind you of two things. One; you're ripping through your lives, as a Human would put it, _willy-nilly._ Two; you just used up a life to stay the same!" Her tone was now an exasperated, frustrated one.

"Well, pardon me if I didn't wanna go!" the Doctor cried in protest. "I like being me! I don't wanna be..." his voice faded to a mutter, "...not-me."

"Oi! Spaceman!" interjected Donna, at which Romana laughed – a musical sound to the Doctor's ears – but not for long. "And _you,_ Spacewoman! Mind explainin' what ya mean by 'ripping through your lives?'" They both tried to explain at once. "And _don't_ try to out-Time Lord each other – it'll just give us a headache...and besides," her voice lowered to a whisper, "Romana'll probably win."

The Doctor just pouted in mock-hurt, so Romana took over. "Alright, I'll try and explain as best as I can," she began. When she spoke again, her voice was the sound of total calm. "A Time Lord has thirteen lives...and some Time Lords were very careless with theirs – the Master, by way of example." She paused for a moment, which gave both Rose and Jack a chance to cut in with some questions.

"Who's the Master?" asked Rose, puzzled. She'd heard the name spoken on the Subwave Network by Martha Jones, and also heard Romana describe him as a parasite – well, words to that effect.

Jack's question was directed at the Doctor. "And if he'd used up all his regenerations – it's _still_ cheeky, by the way," he added, grinning roguishly. "Why was he able to regenerate when we found him at the End of the Universe?"

"The Time Lords needed a perfect warrior to fight in the Time War, Jack," the Doctor pointed out. "So the High Council gave him a new life-cycle, complete with twelve new regenerations. But what they didn't bargain for was his desertion when the Dalek Emperor took control of the Cruciform."

"As for _your_ question, Rose," Romana cut back in, "the Master was an evil Time Lord who used to be a friend of the Doctor's." At this, Rose stared in blank shock, while Donna gasped in horror. "I know. I still have trouble believing it sometimes. Don't worry though – it doesn't change who the Doctor is." This caused the pair of Humans to lose their shock and horror. Romana then decided to finish the explanation.

But before the reunions could commence, the TARDIS was shaken about by an unknown force. When it stopped, all the Systems were powered down.

"We're locked in a Temporal Prison!" cried Romana. "We can't dematerialise!"

The group now had no choice but to accept whatever fate the Daleks would bestow upon them...

*DW*

**"No** doubt we're being taken to the Daleks' base of operations," Romana speculated with an educated guess.

"It's a planet-size ship they're calling the Crucible," Jack informed her hesitantly. He was still wary as to what this Time Lady thought of him, given his status as a fixed point in Time, as an Immortal.

Romana picked up the hesitation. "I _can_ get used to your being immortal, by the way – it's just going to take Time." Those words appeased him for now, which meant the occupants could now get to know each other better. "How about you three," she inclined to Jack, Rose and Donna, "tell me how you met the Doctor, starting with Donna."

"Well...it was the day of my botched wedding," Donna began, smiling in amusement. "I was walking down the aisle. Then suddenly," she clicked her fingers, "next thing I know, I'm in Martian-Boy's Time Machine. It turned out that my fiancé was putting Huon Particles in my coffee for six months, tryin' to feed me to Spacespiders – Racnoss, I think the Doctor called 'em."

Romana gasped in horror that those monstrous creatures had survived the ancient Gallifreyan's purge. But they had only a limited amount of Time to get to know each other, so she didn't press. "Rose?" she asked curiously.

"He blew up my job after I got attacked by shop-window dummies," Rose smirked at how absurd that could sound to most people. But Romana just smiled, before turning to Jack.

"I accidentally dropped a Chula Warship, full of nanogenes, on a child – but those two," he indicated the Doctor and Rose, "managed to fix it."

Before Romana could enquire further, the TARDIS was once again shaken. They had arrived at their destination. "The Crucible," the Doctor told them. He then announced; "All aboard!"

Moments later, a deep, booming Dalek voice thundered outside. "DOC-TOR, YOU WILL STEP FORTH, OR DIE!"

The Doctor just sighed. "We'll have to go out...cos even if we _don't,_ they get in."

"You told me nothin' could get through those doors," Rose protested.

"You've got Extrapolator Shielding!" Jack added.

"But those Systems are reliant on the Power System," Romana told them sadly. "Once you cut the Power, you've lost all of those Systems."

"And even if we hadn't, what we're dealing with _now_ is completely different to the Daleks we faced before," the Doctor joined in. "When Romana faced the Daleks with me, they were automatons, enslaved to logic. When _we,"_ he gestured to Jack and Rose, "fought them, they were scavengers...and hybrids and _mad._ _This_ is a fully-fledged Dalek _Empire._ At the height of its power, the Daleks are experts at fighting TARDISes, they can do _anything."_

"That wooden door is merely wood, now," Romana finished for him.

"What about your Dimensional Teleport?" Jack asked Rose, hoping she had a way out. No such luck.

"It still needs twenty minutes...and besides, I'm not leavin'!" Rose told him firmly.

"What about your Vortex Manipulator?" the Doctor questioned Jack, as Jack, being as resourceful as most Time Agents, had such a device given to him.

"It went down with the power loss," Jack sighed sadly.

"The Temporal Prison disables all forms of Time Travel device, _except_ for Time Rings," Romana explained to the others.

"What abou' _your_ way of gettin' 'ere?" Rose asked the Time Lady.

"The Cosmic Projector would just take us back to E-Space," Romana shook her head. "We'd be powerless to stop the Daleks then..."

"Donna?" asked the Doctor, curious as to why she was staring into empty Space. He walked up to her to get her attention. "Donna?"

"Yeah," she replied, confirming that her mind was in the here and now.

"SUR-REN-DER, DOC-TOR, AND FACE YOUR DA-LEK MAS-TERS!" the voice shouted again.

"So...Daleks," Rose laughed.

_"Oh God!"_ Jack cried in mock-fear.

The Doctor laughed, before turning to Donna. "You were brilliant," he told her. He turned to Jack; "And _you_ were brilliant..." he said this almost as a sigh of admittance. Then to Rose; "And you were brilliant," he said. Finally, to Romana; "And _you_ were as wonderful as can be." He knew he'd echoed the word his 4th self used to describe her, shortly before they parted company.

His lover smiled a weak smile. "And you were full of incredible surprises to the end," she whispered to him. She'd said something similar to the curly-haired Doctor, the one whom their son looked like. With that, the team headed onto the Bridge of the Crucible, where they were greeted by the propaganda of the chanting Daleks...

*DW*

**"DA-LEKS** REIGN SU-PREME! ALL HAIL THE DA-LEKS!" the Dalek Army chorused.

"BE-HOLD, DOC-TOR...BE-HOLD THE MIGHT OF THE _TRUE_ DA-LEK RACE!" boomed a Dalek that was positioned on a podium, as if overseeing every other Dalek present. Romana needed just _one_ glance to tell her that _this_ was _not_ a _normal_ Dalek. Its livery was coloured blood-red, with its trim coloured a brighter shade of gold than other Daleks. It also had thick bars around its mid-section, situated in a crown-like manner, and as it turned its dome, she could see it had not two, but _three_ headlights. Romana could almost feel it scrutinising her. "WHAT ARE YOU?! YOU ARE IM-POS-SI-BLE!"

"Nonsense!" Romana snorted. Long ago, she could remember being terrified of the Daleks. Now though, after her travels with the Doctor, she had learnt that frustrating an enemy could distract them enough for them to make a mistake. "Nothing is impossible...just unlikely."

"I-DEN-TI-FY YOUR-SELF!" a Drone Dalek screeched.

"Romanadvoratrelundar," she replied, a sneering tone in her voice. "Otherwise known as Romana."

"DA-LEK DA-TA-BASE RE-PORTS AN IN-DI-VI-DUAL TI-TLED 'RO-MA-NA' TO HAVE PE-RISHED ON OUR HOME PLA-NET OF SKA-RO," reported another Drone. "CAUSE OF DEATH; RA-DIA-TION POI-SO-NING."

"That information was catalogued on a false assumption," Romana told them. "As you can see, and as Davros will attest, I'm alive and well. I faked that death." At that, Jack and Rose looked incredulously at her.

"HOW DID YOU SUR-VIVE? NONE ES-CAPE THE DA-LEKS A-LIVE!" the Supreme Dalek growled angrily.

"Well, I think I've just proved otherwise, haven't I?!" she snapped back. She'd had enough of this. "It just goes to show you that you're not as superior as you'd like to believe. And spare me the propaganda...who are you trying to convince? Us...or yourselves?"

"And more to the point," the Doctor cut in, steering the topic away from Romana's faked death, "where's Davros? I'd have thought he'd want to see this – the Doctor and Company, powerless before the Dalek Empire."

"DAV-ROS IS IN THE VAULT," the Supreme Dalek answered for him.

"Ah! So he's bungled it again, has he?" the Doctor laughed, which made Romana smile – this incarnation of the Doctor was like her first Doctor – both were mad, incredible, and _very_ talkative. He turned to the others. "The Daleks only let Davros in charge if they need him for something – once he's outlived his usefulness, they get rid of him." He noticed that Donna was not among the group. "Donna?" he called into the TARDIS.

"We told you that you're no safer in there," Romana joined in. But before Donna could leave the TARDIS, the door snapped shut.

"Doctor? Romana?" she cried in panic.

"Donna? What's happening?"

"OI!" Donna shouted furiously. "You're not leavin' me outta this!"

"What have you done?" Romana spat at the Supreme Dalek.

"THIS IS NOT OF DA-LEK O-RI-GIN," the Supreme denied her implied her accusation. "THIS IS TIME LORD TREA-CHE-RY!"

_"Me?_ The door closed on its own!" the Doctor protested.

"NE-VER-THE-LESS, THE TAR-DIS IS A WEA-PON...AND IT WILL BE DES-TROYED!" the Supreme announced. At once, the TARDIS was sent hurtling down a shaft.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" the Doctor demanded, before running up to the Supreme Dalek. "WHERE DOES THAT SHAFT GO?!"

"THE CRU-CI-BLE HAS A HEART OF ZED NEU-TRI-NO EN-ER-GY," the Dalek told him. "THE TAR-DIS WILL BE DE-PO-SI-TED IN-TO THE CORE."

"But the Defences have been taken offline!" Romana protested. "The TARDIS will be ripped to pieces!"

This got Rose and Jack joining the conversation. "But Donna's still in there!" Rose cried in protest.

"LET HER GO!" shouted Jack demandingly. But they were merely ignored.

"THE FE-MALE _AND_ THE TAR-DIS WILL PE-RISH TO-GETH-ER!" the Supreme shot back in a smug tone. "OB-SERVE!"

"Please...I'll do anything!" the Doctor pleaded. "PUT ME IN HER PLACE! JUST GET HER OUT OF THERE!" But his pleas fell on deaf auditory sensors.

"YOU ARE CON-NEC-TED TO THE TAR-DIS! NOW FEEL IT DIE!" the Supreme Dalek commanded him in a disgustingly merciless tone.

"TO-TAL TAR-DIS DES-TRUC-TION IN TEN RELS!" a Drone Dalek announced. "EIGHT...SE-VEN...SIX...FIVE...FOUR...THREE...TWO...ONE!"

"THE TAR-DIS IS DES-TROYED!" the Supreme told them in a triumphant manner. "NOW TELL ME, DOC-TOR – WHAT DO YOU FEEL? AN-GER? SOR-ROW? DES-PAIR?"

The Doctor didn't have the strength of heart in him for much talking, and he could tell Romana was feeling the same pain. "Yeah," he answered in a hollow whisper.

"THEN, IF E-MO-TIONS ARE _SO_ IM-POR-TANT," the Dalek reasoned in a mocking tone, "SURE-LY WE HAVE _EN-HANCED_ YOU?!"

Jack finally snapped in fury. "OH YEAH? FEEL THIS!" With that, he fired his revolver at the casing of the Supreme – to absolutely no effect.

"EX-TER-MIN-ATE!" the Dalek cried, firing its blaster at him. Its aim was true – Jack screamed in pain as his skeleton was illuminated by the shot.

"Oh my God!" Rose cried in horror. "They just killed 'im!"

"Rose," Romana told her. "Get back..."

"But..."

"We know..."

"ES-CORT THEM TO THE VAULT," the Supreme Dalek instructed a group of Drones.

"There's nothing we can do..." the Doctor told Rose, as Daleks surrounded the trio.

"THEY ARE THE PLAY-THINGS OF DAV-ROS NOW," the Supreme informed the Drones. With that, the Daleks ushered them to the Vault, but not before Romana caught Jack giving her an only noticeable wink.

It was time to become reacquainted with old enemies...


	7. Backup Plans & Old Enemies

Backup Plans & Old Enemies

**"...that** hurt," groaned Alan Jackson, landing in the Attic of 13 Bannerman Road.

"Teleportation is capable of causing nausea," Luke Smith informed the party who'd just teleported into the house, before moving to help them up and subsequently becoming swept into a hug by Maria.

"I know," Jonathan agreed with him, knowing how such devices could upset biology. "Believe me; it's even worse when you're transporting yourself through a Charged Vacuum Emboitment – doubly so when there's Time Travel involved."

Maria had ceased her embrace with Luke by now. "So what do we do now?" she asked, in a defeatist tone. "Earth's completely overrun by the Daleks, and now we've found out that they're gonna destroy the whole of Reality. We're scuppered."

"We're not out yet," Jonathan told her calmly. "Relax for a moment."

"What d'you mean, relax?!" she cried, not understanding how he could be so calm, so detached. "People are dead-"

"And many more will go the same way unless we can successfully come up with a plan!" he cut her off snappily. It was in instances like these that some of the less Human qualities of the 4th incarnation of the Doctor started to show in Jonathan. "People think well when they're not overwhelmed by their emotions – and I'm sorry if I sound Inhuman to you, but it's a fact of life." He stopped to take a breath before apologising. "I'm sorry for snapping at you, Maria..."

"I'm sorry as well, Jonathan," Maria told him. "Now then, what's the plan?"

"Well," he began, "there's naught we can do about the presence of Zed Neutrino Energy – energy can't be created _or_ destroyed. We'd have to find some way of making the energy fold back in on the Daleks."

"How?" Alan asked curiously. "Earth doesn't have the technology to do that."

"We might not need technology, Alan," Jonathan told him. "We _could_ use a formula called Block Transfer." At this, Alan and Maria just looked puzzled.

"Block Transfer can model any Space-time event in the Universe," Luke explained to them. But evidently, he saw the problem if his next words were anything to go by. "However, the mathematics aren't compatible with computers, and only a number of species could master it."

"And the species best known for being able to perform Block Transfer Computations are the now-extinct Logopolitans of Logopolis," Jonathan continued. "Only a few could ever hope to learn the science." His gaze turned to Mr Smith. "But the good thing is we have a member of one such species in the room. A Xylok could learn it in next to no Time."

"Mr Smith," asked Luke curiously. "Do you have any knowledge of Block Transfer?"

"I regret to inform you that I have no such knowledge," Mr Smith told them resignedly.

"But you could learn it?"

"Yes, in less than an hour if I have a direct information upload from a computer which has the knowledge of the mathematics."

"Oh dear," sighed Jonathan, whacking himself on the head. "We'd have been better off if we'd been able to bring K-9!"

"But we've got K-9!" Maria told him, now feeling a bit better at being able to contribute to the plan. "Sarah Jane told us she had the Mk IV K-9!"

Jonathan's face lit up in joy. "Thank you very much, Maria Jackson!" he cried exuberantly. "K-9?"

"Greetings, young Master," chirped K-9's voice as he materialised into the Attic. "How may this unit assist you?"

"K-9, I need you to upload everything you know about Block Transfer Computations into Mr Smith," the young not-quite-Time Lord told him.

"Affirmative," the Robot indicated his understanding. K-9 then moved to upload the program...

*DW* **_...back on the Crucible..._** *DW*

**"Activate** the Holding Cells," ordered Davros. At once, the Doctor, Romana and Rose were enclosed by separate energy shields. The Dalek creator then took a short moment to survey his triumph over his most hated enemy, coming to a stop when he saw Romana. "Impossible...or is it? Oh, this is Destiny at work indeed!"

"I'd like to say it was nice to see _you_ again, Davros," Romana told him, staring at him with a look of cold contempt. "But then I'd be lying. It's rather loathsome having to see you again." Davros said nothing to this. "I _do_ have one question, however – how did you escape that block of ice that _he,"_ she inclined her head toward the Doctor, "said that even _you_ couldn't escape from?"

"The Daleks freed me," Davros told her. "Ninety years I was frozen – ninety years of _mind-numbing_ boredom. I was conscious _every second._ When I was released, the Doctor had regenerated." But before he could continue, Romana turned her attention to her lover.

"Might I ask, Doctor, what that life was like?" she asked him.

"I was a bit of a Cricket lover," he told her with a smile. "He was also the first one to feel Human."

"Much as I would enjoy listening to the pointless tales of the nature of your regenerations, Doctor," Davros cut back in, sounding as if he couldn't care less about such stories, "I would be more inclined to know about your companion who witnessed my awakening on Skaro." He turned back to Romana. "Name and Planet of Origin?" he demanded.

"Name – Romanadvoratrelundar," she answered, making sure to gauge Davros' reaction. "Planet of Origin – Gallifrey."

Davros hissed angrily. _"Time Lord!"_ he spat. "It is fortunate that we had you placed in a Holding Cell – even when powerless, a Time Lord is best contained."

"Still scared of us, then?" the Doctor sneered. "And before you can talk any further, we are _not_ doing the Nostalgia Tour, because...the Supreme Dalek said 'Vault.' As in 'Dungeon'...'Cellar'...'Prison." He locked eyes with the Dalek creator. "You're not in charge of the Daleks, are you?"

"Just like before, if you think hard and long about it," Romana continued the Doctor's train of thought and speech. "He once told me the Daleks left you for dead centuries ago. So now...you're...what? A Servant? Slave? A Courtjester?"

"We have...an arrangement."

Romana just snorted in derisive laughter – _what a wonderful sound,_ the Doctor thought as she did so. _"No...you_ are the Daleks' pet, waiting for a chewtoy!"

Davros turned to Rose. "So full of fire, are they not? And to think you crossed the whole of Reality to find the Doctor again..."

"Back off," spat Romana.

"She is mine...to do as I please," the Kaled Scientist shot back.

"So how come I'm still alive?" asked Rose.

"You are meant to be – it was foretold," Davros told her. "Even the Supreme Dalek would _dare_ not contradict the prophecies of Dalek Caan." With that, he flipped the Lighting Control Switch on his wheelchair, and the mad, rambling Dalek was illuminated.

"So..._cold_...and _dark,"_ Caan croaked. _"Fire_ is coming...the _endless_ flames...the shining light..."

In spite of the fact she'd heard this on the Subwave Network, Romana could only stare in blank shock. Daleks didn't speak in this manner the last time she'd checked. "What is that, Doctor?" she asked her fellow Time Lord.

"The last of the Cult of Skaro," the Doctor told her. "A group created by the Dalek Emperor to think as the enemy thinks. The other three – Daleks Thay, Jast and Sec – were wiped out in 1930's New York. Caan escaped, only to fly into the Time War unprotected..."

"He did _more_ than that," Davros rejoined the conversation, pride in his voice that one of his own creations had managed such an impossible feat. "He saw Time...its infinite complexity and majesty..._raging_ through his mind..."

"No wonder he's insane," Romana said quietly, for she knew that to do such a thing would destroy most minds in the Universe.

"This I have foreseen...in the wild and the wind..." the Dalek rambled again. "The last Time Lords will be here...as witnesses...to the End of _Everything_...the Doctor, the Crimson Cub and their precious Children of Time!" He began laughing. "And one of them will die..."

"Was that you then, Dalek Caan?" Romana snarled in righteous anger. "Did _you_ murder Donna Noble?"

"Why did the TARDIS door close?!" the Doctor demanded furiously. "TELL ME!" This was roared with such force even Romana was taken by surprise. Her lover had clearly suffered the insufferable since she'd been gone.

"Oh, _that's it!"_ Davros cried in perverse joy. "The _anger_...the _fire_...the _rage_ of a Time Lord who _butchered_...MILLIONS!" The hatred Davros felt at the memory of the Hand of Omega incident had not faded over Time – he could still remember how many Daleks had died that day. "Why so shy? Show your companions...show your fellow Time Lord your _true_ self. Dalek Caan had promised me that too."

"I have seen it," Caan continued in an insane, giggling ramble. "At the Time of Ending, the Doctor's soul will be revealed!"

"Meaning _what,_ exactly?" asked Romana, wishing that this mindless rambler would get to the point.

"We will discover it together, Time Lords...it shall be our Final Journey. Now, the testing begins."

"The testing of the Reality Bomb?" Romana asked him, outwardly calm. Inwardly, she was absolutely horrified at the scope of the atrocity the Daleks were about to commit.

Davros smirked. "Precisely..."


	8. The Reality Bomb

The Reality Bomb

**The** Doctor, Romana and Rose watched the display showing the prisoners in the Testing Area being crammed together underneath a foreboding-looking machine. _This,_ Romana thought, _must be the Reality Bomb...the weapon they will use to destroy Reality in its entirety._ The Doctor had begged Davros not to use the device on the test subjects, but as usual, his words had fallen on deaf ears. All the trio could do was watch as the prisoners were disintegrated by the Reality Bomb.

"What just happened?" Rose asked the pair of Time Lords.

"That's what's going to destroy the whole of Reality, Rose," Romana told her grimly, her blood boiling with rage. "Atoms can only hold together through Electromagnetism – if you fire compressed Zed Neutrino Energy onto the atomic nuclei, the Electromagnetism fails...and the atoms fall apart."

"That test was focused on the prisoners alone," Davros cut in. "Full transmission will dissolve _every_ form of matter."

"The stars are goin' out..." Rose realised, horror in her voice.

"Add to this the fact that the Crucible is sitting at the very heart of the Medusa Cascade, and it won't just be confined to this Universe," Romana confirmed. "Planets...stars...people...all turned to dust, then to atoms...then nothing. And it will happen all over again in every other Universe..."

"...breaking through the rift at the heart of the Medusa Cascade, into every Dimension...every parallel...every single _corner_ of Creation!" Davros broke into a victory rant. _"This_ is my Ultimate Victory, Time Lords! THE DESTRUCTION...OF REALITY...ITSELF!"

*DW* **_...13 Bannerman Road..._** *DW*

**"What** exactly are we doing?!" Maria asked curiously. She was still stumped as to how they could stop the Daleks from using their Zed Neutrino Megaweapon, and she wanted to understand the plan.

"The Daleks are going to broadcast a wave of compressed Zed Neutrino Energy across the whole of Reality," Jonathan explained. "If they do that, everything turns to dust and dies. What we're trying to do is create a Space-time Warp Field around the Megaweapon _and_ the Dalek Battlefleet. The energy from the Reality Bomb – for a lack of a better phrase – will be refocused onto the Ships, turning _them_ into dust instead. It'll take a while for the Megaweapon to charge up again...but by then, Mr Smith will have uploaded a computer virus into the Daleks' Main Computer, deactivating everything except the Life Support Systems – that includes the Daleks' Weapons Control."

"You're an absolute genius, you know that?" Alan told the boy. "Maybe Sarah Jane should let you join her little group..."

Jonathan paused before turning to look at Luke and Maria. The former gave Maria a look that asked; "What do you think?" She nodded, smiling. "We'd love to have him around."

Jonathan grinned his toothy grin, before turning his attention back to Mr Smith. "We can't just use the Space-time Warp Field against them, however. There's one more thing my father-"

"Your dad," Maria told him. "'Father' is too formal...and so is 'Mother.' Call them 'Dad' and 'Mum.'

"Is that a rule I have to follow to fit in?" Jonathan asked her with a smile. Maria nodded. "Well then," he continued, "there's one more thing Mum and Dad would do..."

*DW* **_...back onboard the Crucible...the Bridge..._** *DW*

**"IN-CO-MING** TRANS-MIS-SION!" reported a Dalek Drone. "O-RI-GIN; PLA-NET EARTH!"

"DIS-PLAY!" ordered the Supreme Dalek. At once, the face of a Human woman rang throughout the Comm Systems.

"This message is for the Dalek Crucible..."

"RE-LAY TRANS-MIS-SION TO THE VAULT," the Supreme instructed the Drones...

*DW* **_...the Vault..._** *DW*

**"Put** me through!" the Doctor told the Daleks in the Vault. He'd recognised the caller as Martha Jones.

"It begins as Dalek Caan foretold," Davros whispered, his voice filled with pride for the mad Dalek.

"The Children of Time will gather...and one of them will die!" Caan chuckled insanely.

"SHUT IT!" Romana shouted angrily. "NOW PUT US THROUGH!"

"Doctor! Romana!" called Martha, her voice full of resigned sorrow. "I'm sorry...I had no choice..."

"Oh...but these Time Lords are powerless..." Davros called up at the Screen. "My prisoners...state your intent."

"I've got the Osterhagen Key," Martha told the occupants of the Vault. "Leave this planet _and_ its people alone...or I'll _use_ it!" The last four words were the ones that conveyed the threat.

"Martha..._what,_ exactly is the Osterhagen Key?" Romana demanded impatiently.

"There's a chain of 25 Nuclear Warheads positioned at strategic point underneath the Earth's crust," Martha explained grimly. "If I use the Key...they detonate...and the Earth gets ripped apart..."

"What? No!" the Time Lady shouted. "That's insane! You can't do that!"

"Romana, the Osterhagen Key is to be used," the young Human woman told her sadly. "If the suffering of the Human Race is _so great_..._so_ without _hope_...then _this_ becomes the final option..."

"Martha, you can't!" Romana protested in frustration.

"That's _never_ an option!" the Doctor pressed the point angrily.

"Don't argue with me, Doctor!" snapped Martha. "Cos there's more than that...Romana said so herself...the Daleks need the twenty-seven planets to create the Megaweapon they've been working on – but what if it becomes _twenty-six?_ What happens then? Daleks? Would you risk it?"

"She's good," Rose commented, smiling at Martha's resolve. Martha turned her attention to her predecessor.

"Are you Rose Tyler?" she asked, shock in her voice. Rose nodded. "Welcome back..."

*DW* **_...the Bridge..._** *DW*

**"SE-COND** TRANS-MIS-SION; IN-TER-NAL!"

"DIS-PLAY!"

*DW **_...the Vault..._** *DW*

**At** once, a male American voice blared throughout the Comm System as four people appeared on the Screen. "Captain Jack Harkness, calling all Dalek boys an' girls – are you receiving me?!" Jack called, his right hand clasped around a diamond connected to wiring. He was accompanied by Sarah Jane, Mickey Smith and Jackie Tyler. "Don't send in your goons, or I'll let this thing off!"

"Oh my God, he's alive!" Rose cried in relief.

"That's how he's lived for over a hundred years, Rose," Romana told the young blonde. "He's immortal...although I'm not sure how..."

"Captain, what are you doing?" the Doctor demanded of him.

"I've got a Warp Star wired into the mainframe," the rogue Time Agent told him. "If I break the shell...the entire _Crucible_ goes up!"

"You can't! Where'd you get a Warp Star?!" cried the Doctor.

"From me!" called Sarah Jane. "We had no choice – we saw what happened to the prisoners!"

"Impossible!" Davros whispered. "That face...after _so very long!"_

"Davros!" Sarah Jane spoke in horror. She thought she'd seen the last of him when the early Daleks had blasted him at point-blank range. "It's been a while! Sarah Jane Smith, remember?!"

"Oh, this is _meant_ to be!" cried Davros in mad joy. "The Circle of Time is closing! _You_ were there on Skaro, at the very beginning of my creation!"

"And I've learnt how to fight since then!" Sarah Jane spat venomously. "You let the Doctor _and_ Romana go, or this Warp Star...it gets _opened!"_

"I'll do it," Jack told them, smiling mockingly. "Don't imagine I wouldn't!"

"Now _that's_ what _I_ call a ransom!" Rose quipped with a wry smile.

Just then a _third_ transmission came through. This time, it was Jonathan's voice ringing out. "Hello? Dalek Crucible? Respond!" Once the image was displayed, everyone gave him their undivided attention. They noticed that Luke Smith and Maria Jackson were either side of him. "Ah...there you are."

"Jonathan!" cried Romana. "What are you doing?!"

"I'm sorry, Mum," the boy told him. "There's no choice anymore..."

"What is this?" demanded Davros. "How is this possible?" He recognised the face – it was a face that once belonged to the Doctor. But it couldn't be the first one he'd met! "What is this _novelty?"_ The last word was a sneer.

"This is an ultimatum for the Dalek Race," Jonathan told the audience. "If you do not dismantle your Reality Bomb _at once_...your Battlefleet will be destroyed..._utterly!"_

"You are in no position to be threatening _me,_ boy!" spat the Daleks' creator.

_"Try me!"_ Jonathan shot right back. "I _will_ do it if I must!"

"You have not the weaponry to destroy the Dalek Battlefleet!" taunted Davros. "Unless I am very much mistaken, you are the Doctor's child, are you not?" Jonathan nodded. His opponent then began to rant. "You have proven my point, Jonathan! You, like your father, are weak! The Daleks are all-"

But Jonathan then took a different track. "POWERFUL!" he shouted, doing his best impersonation of a Dalek voice. "CRUSH THE LESSER RACES! DESTROY REALITY! UNCHALLENGED SUPREMACY! UNLIMITED JELLYBABIES! ET CETERA, ET CETERA!" At this, every non-Dalek individual except the Doctor and Romana burst out laughing.

"DO _NOT_ MOCK ME, YOU MEDDLING BRAT!" snarled Davros angrily. "THE DALEKS CAN NOW _EXTERMINATE_ ALL INFERIOR LIFE!"

"GO ON THEN!" the boy challenged him. "You might be able to destroy the whole of Reality – but it won't belittle the _sad, unfortunate_ truth – THAT OF YOUR OWN _IMPOTENCE!"_ Now the Doctor was scared – his son was showing some traits that belonged to his own 7th incarnation.

"Jonathan, what are you doing?!" Maria cried in a hushed whisper. He just whispered; "Watch."

By this point, Davros was fuming, hatred boiling in his veins. But when he caught sight of the Doctor, he managed to translate some of that hatred into sadistic joy. "And the prophecy unfolds!"

"The Doctor's soul is revealed!" Dalek Caan cried insanely. "See him...see the _heart_ of him!"

"The man who abhors violence...never carrying a gun..." Davros sneered, though the rage was still detectable. "But _this_ is the truth, Doctor...you take ordinary people and fashion _them_ into weapons...and it seems Romana has done much the same with your son...behold your Children of Time, transformed into _murderers!_ I made the Daleks, Doctor..._you_ made this."

But Romana wasn't going to have this – the man she loved was _not_ a murderer, and nor were the Children of Time. "Shut it, you!" she spat. But the command fell on deaf ears.

"And how many others have you caused to die?" Davros taunted the centuries-old Time Lord. "Just think, Doctor – how many have died in _your_ name?"

A mere moment later, Romana sensed the Doctor's mind wander back to all those he had seen die over his current life and the last. _Doctor, stop it!_ She called to him. _Don't listen to this __**twisted**_ _abomination of the truth!_ But he wasn't listening to her. Romana felt the remorse and the regret threaten to overcome him. _No!_ Romana cried.

"The Doctor...the man who keeps running," Davros mocked, "never looking back, because he _dare_ not...out of _shame!_ This is my Final Victory, Doctor...I have shown you...yourself."

"E-NOUGH!" the Supreme Dalek shouted. "EN-GAGE DE-FENSE ZE-RO-FIVE!"

"Get ready, Mr Smith!" Jonathan told his aunt's Supercomputer.

"TRANS-MAT EN-GAGED!" a Dalek Drone announced, placing its appendage into the corresponding controls. At once, Martha, Jack, Sarah Jane, Mickey, Jackie, Jonathan, Maria and Luke were transported directly to the Vault.

"STAY WHERE YOU ARE! DON'T MOVE!" the Doctor shouted.

"ON YOUR KNEES, ALL OF YOU!" Davros snarled commandingly. "SURRENDER!"

"Do as he says!" the Doctor implored. They did so. Then Rose spotted her mother among them.

"Mum, I _told_ you _not_ to!" she sighed in exasperation.

"I wouldn't leave ya," Jackie told her adamantly.

Everyone turned their attention to Davros. There was no mistaking his facial expression – it was a mask of mingled megalomania and rage. The Daleks' creator had his attention trained on Jonathan for the moment.

"Now I shall teach you the _folly_ of your words, Jonathan!" he spat in insane fury. "While the Detonation takes place, I will _destroy_ you...AND YOUR FATHER WILL BE MADE TO WATCH!"

"Davros, final warning...do _not_ use the Bomb," Jonathan told him, his tone of voice perfectly serious. But he was ignored, as to be expected from the likes of Davros, whose attention was now turned to the Supreme Dalek.

"Supreme Dalek...the Time has come!" Davros called up to the leading Dalek. "Now...DETONATE THE REALITY BOMB!" The last words were a scream of mania.

*DW*

**As** the Countdown began, Davros turned his attention back to Jonathan, who just stared at him. "Now...you will suffer for your insolence, boy!" he spat the last word with the utmost contempt as he flicked a Control Switch on his wheelchair.

Merely a second later, Jonathan cried out in unbearable pain, falling to the floor. He could barely hear the voices of his friends screaming in protest. All of his senses had failed him. He couldn't see, nor hear, nor feel anything but the agony. His entire nervous system was aflame, and felt as though this was all it would know when...

* * *

**So...what did you think of Jonathan's "Unlimited Jellybabies" mocking rant? For those of you who don't know, it's a parody of the 7th Doctor's "Unlimited Rice-pudding" mocking rant from "Remembrance of the Daleks." However, I'd like to know what _you_ thought of it.**


	9. Cyclone Child & Crimson Cub

Cyclone Child & Crimson Cub

**"No,"** Davros decided, switching off his Agony Inducer. "You will not suffer the worst agonies ever known _yet._ You can watch with the rest of your allies as the Universe comes to an end." He turned his attention to the Detonation. "Nothing can stop this now..._nothing_..." The last word was a hushed whisper.

Jonathan chanced a look at his parents, and both of their faces bore the same look. The message was clear – it was disappointment...not at _him,_ but at themselves; disappointment that they had failed to keep him safe. _It's not your fault, Mum,_ he told Romana soothingly.

_Don't lie to me, Jonathan!_ She shot back, the guilt in her voice. _I got you into this!_

_Stop it!_ He told her firmly. _If you recall...I __**chose**__ to come along! Now listen carefully...I've got a plan._ There was no reply, but Jonathan knew his mother was listening. _When I say 'now,'_ _I want you to rush to the Vault Control Hub. Trust me, Mum...please..._

Romana just nodded. She trusted her son, but she didn't know what he hoped to accomplish...they couldn't reach the Control Hub with the Holding Cell in the way. But then, a most opportune moment...

"DA-TA; SPA-TIO-TEM-PO-RAL WARP FIELD DE-TEC-TED!" a Dalek Drone shrieked in panic. "IT HAS EN-GULFED THE REA-LI-TY DE-TON-A-TOR!"

"WHAT?!" bellowed Davros. "WHAT IS THIS?!"

"SUP-PLE-MEN-TAL; A SE-COND FIELD HAS TRAPPED THE BAT-TLE-FLEET!" a second Drone screeched. Its voice then rose further in what could have passed for horror. "THE FIELDS ARE CO-TER-MI-NAL!"

"NO!" screamed Davros furiously. "THIS CANNOT BE CORRECT!"

"TO-TAL DIS-IN-TE-GRA-TION OF DA-LEK BAT-TLE-FLEET IS IM-MI-NENT!" reported a third Dalek. And sure enough, when the Children of Time turned their attention to the Display, they could see every Dalek Saucer crumbling to dust...dust which would eventually break down to nothing. Davros swirled his chair around to face the boy who had robbed him of his Triumph.

"YOU HAVE TRICKED ME!" he roared, hatred burning every remaining fibre in his body. But Jonathan just shook his head and smirked.

"The only one who tricked you is _yourself,_ Davros," he shot back smugly. "You have failed! This is the end for you...the end of the Daleks forever! The _Final_ End!"

"YOU WILL SUFFER FOR YOUR INTERFERENCE IN MY PLAN!" the Dalek creator snarled in sadistic fury. He then turned the Agony Inducer to full strength. Instantly, the boy closed his eyes and screamed louder than he'd ever done in his life. This was surely the end for _him_ as well, it would seem...

*DW*

**"NO!"** the Doctor and Romana screamed simultaneously, amid the protests of their friends and allies. It was agonisingly heartbreaking to watch their son suffer like this...

"LET HIM GO, DAVROS!" Sarah Jane snarled furiously, rushing forward to help her honorary nephew. But as she did so, Davros fired an arc of electricity which impacted her over the heart – Sarah Jane cried in shock as she fell to the floor beside him, garnering screams of horror from the Doctor, Romana, Luke and Maria, and cries of panic from the rest.

By now, Jonathan's screams of agony had subsided to gasps of pain. He evidently didn't have much more Oxygen left in his lungs. But before he could gasp much more...

The Vault suddenly went dark...and the Holding Cells deactivated. The young _de facto_ Time Lord's senses came back into focus once again. He could see his parents coming into vision, kneeling either side of him.

"Jonathan? You alright?" the Doctor implored, praying internally that his son was still in some reasonable shape. _"Talk to me, Jonathan!"_ he commanded his son. He couldn't lose him now...strike that, he couldn't lose him _ever..._

"Sweetheart, talk to us!" Romana pleaded desperately. "Please...don't die..." She wasn't even sure that he was Time Lord enough to be capable of regeneration...

"I'm alright," Jonathan gasped, smiling weakly. "You didn't think you could get rid of me _that_ easily did you?" His mother just clapped him over the head, while his father laughed with relief. Their son then turned their attention to his aunt. "Auntie Sarah!" he cried, rushing to help her. But she was gasping for breath, struggling to breathe. He looked at Luke and Maria, and could see that they were stumped as to what to do. He locked eyes with her, and almost saw a sign of resignation to her eyes. "Don't you dare..." he choked, tears building. "You are _not_ dying!" he shouted, inwardly cursing Davros for this.

But Sarah Jane was shaking her head sadly. "Everything has its Time...and everything ends, Jonathan..."

"Not today," the boy told her vehemently. "And do you know why?" She shook her head. He pointed at Davros, who could not activate his Lightning Ray. "BECAUSE MONSTERS LIKE _HIM_ THINK _THEY_ HAVE THE RIGHT TO DECIDE WHO GETS TO LIVE! AND THAT DOESN'T SIT WITH ME, MY DEAR AUNT!" he roared, breaking down. He held his aunt in his arms...when a small rush of energy flowed into Sarah Jane. At once, her breathing came back. Jonathan turned to his parents. "Mum, Dad...what just happened?"

Romana sighed. "Jonathan...the reason your father looks different from you now is because he's had to change his body on a few occasions," she told her son. "The reason I didn't tell you before now...is because I didn't know if you were capable of regeneration. Most Time Lords are _not_ naturally born..."

They were interrupted by a cackle of glee from Dalek Caan. Davros turned to the Dalek. "What is the meaning of this, Dalek Caan?!" he demanded furiously. Caan just cackled more.

"Oh..." the Doctor whispered in realisation. "You _knew_ this would happen, didn't you Caan?"

"Correct, Doctor," the Dalek confirmed, now sounding perfectly sane. "I also concealed my knowledge of the return of the Cyclone Child and the Crimson Cub...the Cyclone Child...the child of the Oncoming Storm..."

"You mean...Jonathan?" the Doctor gasped in shock. "You _knew_...and concealed the fact from Davros!"

Davros just stared. "You _betrayed_ the Daleks!" he spat in fury.

"I _saw_ the Daleks!" Caan spat in retort. "What we have done...throughout Time and Space...I saw the _Truth_ of us, Creator...AND _I_ DECREED; 'NO MORE!'"

Moments later, the Supreme Dalek descended into the Vault. "DAV-ROS!" it roared in fury. "YOU HAVE BE-TRAYED US!"

"It was Dalek Caan!" Davros protested, but his words fell on deaf auditory sensors.

"THE VAULT WILL BE PURGED!" the Supreme bellowed. "YOU WILL _ALL_ BE _EX-TER-MI-NA-TED!"_ However, when it tried to fire, it found its blaster was not working. "WHAT IS HAP-PE-NING?! EX-PLAIN!"

Jonathan laughed. "I instructed Mr Smith to upload a computer virus into the Computer of the Dalek Crucible, to be activated once the Dalek Battlefleet was destroyed," he told it. He then turned to his friends. "Haven't I told you? I'm brilliant...and a little bit mad!" While all this had been happening, the regeneration energy had already begun to change him. He turned back to the Supreme Dalek as the amber fire began to engulf him. "Not that _you're_ going to be around long enough to find out," he spat in contempt. "Goodbye!"

With those words, Jonathan spun on the spot and erupted into the very fire that had been enshrouding him, left hand pointed at the Supreme Dalek, right hand pointed at Davros. Both screamed in pain as they were immolated by the regeneration.

"What's happening?!" Maria asked, shouting over the noise in a panicked voice.

"He's regenerating!" yelled the Doctor. "Everything about him is going to change! New body...new voice...new personality...everything! NEW BOY!"

And sure enough, when it was over, a new boy was standing where Jonathan had been. He no longer possessed curly dark hair, and he was a little shorter than before. The hair was now a mop of blonde hair. The Doctor thought he looked very much like his 5th self.

Romana just stood on the spot, smiling. _Theta?_ She asked her lover.

_Hm?_ The reply came.

_When_ _you said your 5__th__ self was a Cricketer,_ Romana inquired, _did he look like that?_

_Yes,_ replied the Doctor, smiling. _He did..._

Sarah Jane noticed that the new boy who had taken the old Jonathan's place resembled one of the Doctors she met at the Dark Tower, in the Death Zone on Gallifrey. She also thought he could easily pass for an Earth Schoolboy.

Martha just stood there, shocked. Now, she had actually witnessed regeneration, the process which the Doctor told her the Master went through in order to change from the Yana incarnation to the Saxon incarnation.

Mickey and Jackie's mind had been blown away. So this was how the Doctor had been able to go from U-Boat Captain to Converse & Pinstripes. But Jackie doubted this boy would have changed _that_ much – when they'd met the new Doctor, he'd still been as rude as the old one.

Jack just whistled, garnering a scowl from both of Jonathan's parents. "Stop it!" they'd both chorused.

Rose had noted the similarities between the current Doctor and the new Jonathan. Both _looked_ young...and at a guess, both probably felt emotions the way Humans did.

Maria and Luke were stumped as to what to think of this complete stranger they were confronted with. Both had seen Jonathan vanish, and they'd both heard the Doctor explain what was happening. But was it _really_ the same person...was it _really_ just a new face and a new personality?

The new Jonathan looked around in a very unsure fashion. He could feel Human emotions on a massive scale. Though he looked Time Lord, he felt Human. He noticed that every Dalek in the Vault – with the exception of Dalek Caan – had been vaporized by his regeneration...probably due to the fact that he had blasted his regenerative energy into the Originator of the Dalek's genetic code. His gaze then rested on his friends. "Hello," he told them. "I'm Jonathan...and hopefully, I'll stay that way if the regeneration works out," he added with a chuckle. This got everyone laughing.

Just then, the group heard the sound of the TARDIS. The Doctor, Romana, Rose and Jack just stared in shock as the TT Capsule materialised. When it was finished, the door opened...to reveal another Doctor...and Donna.

"Did we miss anything?" the new Doctor asked.

The Doctor just stared in shock...as did everyone else. "But that's..." he struggled to find the word, "...impossible!"

"Nothing's impossible...just unlikely," the Duplicate told them. This got Martha and Donna laughing, for the Doctor had said something similar to them when they'd been dragged off to Messaline by the TARDIS.

"But you're a..." Romana stumbled over the word as if it were forbidden, "...Metacrisis!" she cried finally, rounding on the original Doctor. "This is why you shouldn't have siphoned off that energy, Doctor! The chance of Metacrisis was too great!"

"But..." he protested feebly. "I didn't wanna go..." But he was cut off by Romana before he could say more. The words that she shouted echoed her 1st incarnation's words to his 4th self when he told her that he didn't know where they were going after completing the Search for the Key to Time.

"YOU HAVE NO SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY WHATSOEVER!" she yelled angrily. "YOU'RE CAPRICIOUS, ARROGANT, SELF-OPINIONATED, IRRATIONAL...AND THE BEST EXCUSE YOU HAVE IS A VANITY ISSUE! DONNA COULD HAVE DIED!"

"She is right, Doctor," croaked Dalek Caan. "There was a possibility of Miss Noble dying from the Metacrisis that resulted from your aborted regeneration."

"But..."

"Don't even," Romana told him in frustration. "Right now, I've half a mind to make you regenerate again!" This shut the Doctor up. By the time Romana spoke again, she spoke in an exasperated sigh. "Why do you have to shatter every single rule into atoms, Doctor? None of your other selves did this."

"Romana, I..." the Doctor told her, trying to find the right words. "It wasn't just a matter of not wanting to go." He paused, having found the words. "I..._couldn't_ go...not when _you'd_ come back..."

Romana, despite her frustration with him, gave in, grabbed him by the lapels on his pinstriped jacket and snogged him for all either of them were worth. Jack gave an 'awwww,' getting elbowed by Donna, Martha _and_ Sarah Jane simultaneously.

Jackie looked at her daughter, Rose's face a blank expression. She was clearly trying to come to terms with the events regarding the two Time Lords. "Rose?" Jackie asked her. "You alright?"

"Yeah, jus'..." Rose replied. "I'm jus'...wanderin' what I'll do now. The Doctor's got Romana back now...I can see I haven' got a chance..."

"That might not be true, you know," Jonathan cut in. "But I'd like to ask a few questions first. Have you seen Dad regenerate before?" Rose nodded. "What were your thoughts on him doing so?"

"It was...difficult gettin' used to him," she replied uncertainly. "When he was about to do it again, I wasn't ready..."

"Because you'd grown attached to this one," Jonathan finished, guessing the reason. "But the Duplicate over there," he pointed to his uncle – for want of a better term, "is part-Human...the aging part, specifically. He'll grow old, and he can't regenerate...he has the life of a Human...one he could spend with _you..._" He beckoned his uncle over. "Uncle, tell me...did Dad ever love Rose?"

The Duplicate paused before replying. "Yes...but he knew he couldn't spend the rest of his life with her." He continued, cutting off Jonathan's next question. "But with regards to his love for Romana, _I_ could never have something like that...but I can spend the rest of my life with Rose...if she wants..."

Rose paused, then grabbed the Duplicate Doctor by _his_ lapels and brought him into a kiss. Jonathan smiled at this. "Aunt Rosie," he chuckled. At this, the Duplicate and Rose broke off their embrace, blushing. "Well, he is my uncle, you know..."

Sarah Jane appeared behind them. "Martha and Mickey seem to be getting along just fine," she commented, smiling at the pair of them talking.

"Yes...one big happy family," Jonathan quipped in turn. He and his aunt then went over to the Doctor and Romana. "Mum, Dad...would it be alright if I stayed with Auntie Sarah?" They paused. "Please?"

"May we ask why, Sweetheart?" asked his mother curiously.

"Well, Luke and Maria agreed that they'd like to have me in the group when Alan suggested it," her son told her. "May I?"

Romana considered before answering. "Your path is yours to walk, Sweetheart," she told him. "But never forget – Dad loves you, and I love you." Just then, there was a croak that sounded akin to a harrumph. "I think Dalek Caan wants our attention." The entire group walked up to the podium Caan was situated on. "You called, Caan?"

"Yes," he croaked. "And I believe you all have questions for me?" he asked in turn.

Romana nodded. "Did you know my son could regenerate? Because you seemed to know everything else that was going to happen."

"Correct, Crimson Cub," Caan replied. "He, like his mother, is no ordinary Child of Gallifrey."

"Why do you keep calling me 'Crimson Cub?'" questioned the Time Lady. "You're the only one who's called me that in my lifetime."

"You will recall, Crimson Cub, that Davros mentioned that I had seen Time?" Again, Romana nodded in confirmation. "I also saw the History of Gallifrey. Over the millennia that the Time Lords had been in power, there were a number of individual Time Ladies who were unbound by the Pythia Curse..."

"And I was one of them?" Romana guessed. The evidence was sitting in between the Doctor and herself. "And they were all Crimson Cubs?"

"More to the point, why are they called 'Crimson Cubs?'" questioned the Doctor. "Why were these Time Ladies who could naturally give birth called that?"

"Because they saw the face of the Goddess of Time itself," the reformed Dalek told them. "They all saw the Bad Wolf." At this, the Doctor was slack-jawed. "Indeed, Doctor. When Miss Tyler destroyed the Emperor, she had taken the Time Vortex into herself. But the Bad Wolf, as well as resurrecting Captain Harkness, sent ripples into the past of Gallifrey and chose these Time Ladies to be her Crimson Pack...each one was a Crimson Cub. Lady Romana was the latest in the History of your homeworld to be chosen. When they had reach a certain age, the Bad Wolf gave them a Destiny – to lead a new species of Time Lords from beyond the Final Day of Gallifrey. They were instructed to find their Time Lord Match, and depart for a new world – a world no others have found."

"So there could be other surviving Time Lords?" asked Romana, hope in her voice. Then a thought visited her. "But...my Match is the Doctor, yes?"

"Correct," Dalek Caan confirmed. "But you are wondering why you did not receive the opportunity to follow your sisters?" Another nod from Romana. "Did you ever wonder _why_ the White Guardian chose you to help him find the Key to Time, Lady Romana?"

The Time Lady considered the thought, before visiting upon a wonderful idea. "You requested that he choose me, didn't you Caan?" she smiled. "But why?"

"I have seen Timelines, Romana," he replied calmly. "The Match between yourself and the Doctor was difficult – your mission was evidence enough. It had to be that way if the Cyclone Child was to be a certainty in the Universe."

"Jonathan?" Romana asked him. Caan did his best to show a nod. "You ensured that I would take the path where he would be born?" She was a little indignant at not being able to choose her own path.

"Yes...but if you think back, Crimson Cub, would you rather have not walked this path you have travelled...and risk him _not_ being born?" Caan asked her. She shook her head. She would not trade her son for anything...Jonathan was her Time Tot...her baby boy...her child...her Cyclone Child.

"But why was it necessary for Jonathan to be here?" questioned the Doctor. His son had nearly died. He _would_ have died had he not regenerated. He couldn't go through the pain of losing his son...who was so much better than he...

"If he had not been a part of this," Caan explained sadly, "the Child of Time who died could have been another...Miss Noble, perishing as a result of the Metacrisis you created. With Jonathan here, Doctor, he could take that place and survive."

"But how did you know he would regenerate?" Romana asked her secret ally.

"Natural birth is not the only difference between a Crimson Cub and a normal Time Lady, Romana," Caan told her. "When you saw the Bad Wolf, she imprinted the Lykos Imprimatur into your genetic code. This ensured that any child you had would have the regenerative ability from birth, as the Crimson Pack would not have access to the Untempered Schism once they had found their new world." He paused. "The Time Lords could not discover the Lykos Imprimatur because their equipment, advanced though it undoubtedly was, was not designed to locate such an imprint – the Bad Wolf knew of the Time Lords' indolence and xenophobia...and made her Imprimatur unrecognisable."

The Doctor and Romana were utterly blown away by the revelation...the revelation that the Bad Wolf Paradox had created such a wonderful thing in this cold, harsh Universe. But they still had one question.

"Caan...did they succeed in finding a new world? And if they did, what is it called?" asked the Doctor.

"Yes...the name of the planet is...Ariva Lykos," Caan disclosed the secret. Now the Dalek had given them the answers, it was now the moment to die. "The Daleks must not continue to exist, Time Lords. Please, end my life. Dalek Sec was correct...and my fellow Cultists were blind to his wisdom. The Daleks have lost their right to survive..."

Romana felt saddened. She couldn't kill Caan...the Mad Atoner. He wasn't like other Daleks. But if he wanted to die, it was his choice. If she refused, she would be no better than the Time Lords who thought that they had the right to decide who lived and who died. She took out her Sonic Screwdriver, placed it inside Caan's casing and activated it. At once, the casing shut off, and Caan's breathing ceased. The last Dalek had passed on...

* * *

**You didn't really think I was gonna kill Sarah Jane, did you? WHAT KIND OF AUTHOR DO YOU THINK I AM? :)**

**P.S. What did you think of my "Crimson Cub" plot device?**


	10. Swapping Tales

Swapping Tales

**"Right** then," Romana announced suddenly, heading to reactivate the Magnetron that had been used to bring the planets to the Medusa Cascade. "Since it will take some Time before every planet is sent back, perhaps we should pass the Time by getting to know each other better." As she said this, the Magnetron powered up and began to reverse the transportations. "How about telling some of the best moments in your lives with the Doctor? Donna?" Romana turned to the Temp.

"I got to meet Agatha Christie," Donna replied with a smile. "The Doctor and I went back to 1920 and got mixed up in a Whodunit. It turned out the murderer was a giant alien wasp – a Vespiform, the Doctor called it – and it was after a firestone." She turned to Martha.

"I met Shakespeare," Martha told them. "We'd gone back to the 1500s and found out that Shakespeare was writing a sequel play to _Love's Labour's Lost_ – it was called _Love's Labour's Won._ We later found out that it was a Carrionite Code." At this, Romana gasped. She'd heard truly fear-provoking stories about them. Martha picked up on the gasp. "You know the Carrionites?"

"I met the ancient Gallifreyan who conspired with them," Romana told her, remembering that nasty business with Skagra and the Universal Mind. "She got locked up in Shada, with no chance of release. This was before Gallifrey reinstalled capital punishment into its Legal System. Scintilla, her name was." She shook herself out of it. "But enough of that...Rose?"

"Charles Dickens," Rose answered smiling. "We met him while dealing with Ghosts-"

"No _way!"_ Donna shouted with a laugh. "And to think I made a joke about that in 1920!" Everyone began laughing at the irony of the statement. When the laughter died down, Donna turned to Romana.

"I met Leonardo Da Vinci," the Time Lady told them. "It was after a trip to Paris, when the Doctor was trying to show me the perks of Planet Earth. I got a look at the Mona Lisa...or Mona Lisas-"

"Hang on," Martha interrupted. "Mona _Lisas?_ Plural? You mean to tell us that there was more than one?!"

Romana nodded. "All of them were painted by Leonardo...all of them genuine, thanks to Scaroth...the last of the Jagaroth. Scaroth masqueraded as Count Scarlioni, trying to make enough money to obtain the resources to build his own Time Machine. But his mansion was destroyed when the Machine exploded. Only one of the seven Mona Lisas survived."

"I remember that trip well," the Doctor cut in. "Because the trip was 'educational' for her, Romana...decided to wear a school uniform." At this, every Human in the now-deserted Vault, save Luke, snorted with derisive laughter, especially – and predictably – Jack, who whistled.

"Never thought ya had it in ya to let your girlfriend wear a school uniform, Doc," he quipped, once again switching to Captain Innuendo.

Romana scowled. "I'm sorry, but..._what?"_ she demanded sharply. Something was going on here – something undoubtedly ridiculous. "What's so funny?"

"Isn't _anyone_ gonna explain it to her?" Donna sighed in exasperation. All of them just smirked, apart from Luke, who didn't understand why it was funny that Romana had worn a school uniform. Donna turned back to the Time Lady. "How old were you when you wore it?"

"125," she told them, though technically that had been a lie – she had been older than 140 at that point in Time...but she hadn't wanted Duggan to know that. The smirks just grew. "Why are you smirking?"

"You're too old for it," Jackie Tyler cut in.

"Too _old?"_ Romana exclaimed. "I was little more than a Time Tot-"

Sarah Jane explained it to them. "125 years would be considered schoolgirl age for a Time Lord," she told the group, though the smirk was still present on her face. "A Time Lord would be about middle-aged when they're around 750."

"Dirty old man," Jack muttered, a snort of laughter fighting to escape.

"Stop it!" chorused both Doctors.

Romana still didn't understand the implication. "What are you people banging on about?"

"A Human girl stops wearing their school uniform once they're around 20 years old," explained Maria, who had been having silent fits of laughter up until that point. "Unless they're really stupid...or they're getting ready for the bedroom."

Soon enough, the euphemism sunk into Romana's mind. At once, she backed away from the Doctor in shock. "What in Omega's-!" she spluttered, before turning back to the others. "You mean he was eyeing up my body?!" she cried in mortified shock. There was a chorus of; "Yep!"

Before she could take her frustration out on the Doctor, the Magnetron completed its work. All they had to do now was destroy the Crucible. Romana fixed her lover with a stern stare.

"Don't think you avoided retribution...you _dirty_ old man," she quipped, trying a shot at Earth humour. The Doctor backed away in fear as she advanced on him...only for her to whisper into his ear; "You can make it up to me with some wonderful love-making. Sound good?"

"Molto bene!" the Doctor whispered back with a grin. He turned his attention to the Control Hub. "Activating the Dalekanium Power Feeds...and blasting them back into the Crucible!" After he completed the sequence of Control Switches, the Crucible began collapsing around them. "Everyone into the TARDIS!" he shouted. No-one needed telling twice – they all headed in.

When everyone was in, the Doctor set course for Earth, which was now back in its proper point in Space and Time. Once they reached the planet, the Children of Time would have to go their separate ways...


	11. Farewells

Farewells

**A** while later, the TARDIS landed on Earth, in a park. The Doctor, Romana, Sarah Jane, Luke, Maria and Jonathan stepped out of the Timeship. Sarah turned her attention to the parent Time Lords.

"You know, Doctor," she began, "you act like such a _lonely_ man. But look at you!" she cried, joy lighting her face. "You've got the biggest family on Earth...and now, one of your own!" Sarah gestured to Romana and Jonathan, who was talking avidly to Maria and Luke. She turned back to Romana. "Don't worry...I'll take care of him."

"Oh no, don't _you_ worry," Romana replied with a knowing smile of fondness. "If he's anything like his father – and he is, no denying – he'll do his best to take care of _his_ family..._you,_ Sarah Jane."

Sarah smiled at the pair of Time Lords. All of a sudden, she leapt up, remembering something important. "I'd best be getting them back to Bannerman Road! Maria's parents will wonder where she's gone!" she cried. With that, their friend began to lead her team away...

*DW*

**"I** _told_ you – no more Teleport!" the Doctor scolded Jack Harkness, before turning his attention to Martha Jones. "And Martha, do something about that Osterhagen Key...save the world, one more time."

Martha nodded, and then turned to Romana. "You know...I used to think _he_ was the best," she admitted to her fellow companion. "But d'you know what? _You_ are the _best_ of the best." The Doctor just pouted in mock-hurt, while Romana sniggered – this soon pulled him out of it; he loved the sound of Romana's laugh...it was, for lack of a better word..._musical._

"Careful, Martha," Jack told her sternly. "If she's anything like the Doctor, then what you said could inflate her ego." Romana shrugged, before Jack turned to the pair of them. "It was an honour, Lady Romana." He saluted her.

"The honour was mine, Captain Jack Harkness," she replied, saluting him with a Gallifreyan salute. But Jack caught the fundamental meaning. He and Martha turned to embark on their world-saving mission. The two Time Lords turned to see Mickey stepping out of the TARDIS.

"You staying 'ere, then?" the Doctor questioned him.

Mickey just nodded. "Gran passed away a while back," he explained. "There's nothing for me there anymore...certainly not Rose."

By this point, Romana spoke up. "You seemed to be getting along just fine with Martha," she queried. "Just a thought..." she whispered conspiringly. "I'd try and stop Captain Innuendo over there from beating you to the punch."

Mickey chuckled. "Maybe..." With that he headed off after the other two Humans. Romana turned back to the Doctor.

"What of Rose and the other you?" she asked her lover curiously.

"I'm gonna leave them a little gift," he told her. His mind touched hers as he spoke...and she understood. He was going to give them the opportunity to explore a Universe he could not...

*DW* **_...Pete's World...Parallel Earth..._** *DW*

**The** TARDIS materialised on Parallel Earth, Bad Wolf Bay. All the occupants stepped out onto the beach. Jackie groaned.

"We're in bloody Norway!" she cried in exasperation. She turned to the Duplicate. "I swear, I'm gonna have to have a word with your father!" Jackie then changed the topic of the conversation. "By the way, did I tell ya? Me an' Pete, we had a baby son."

"Really?" the Duplicate asked, to which Jackie nodded. "What did ya name him?"

"Doctor," Jackie told him.

"Really?"

_"No,_ you plum," she teased him. "We called him Tony."

"Hold on..." Rose whispered. She turned to the Time Lords. "This is the parallel Earth, right?"

"Yes," Romana told her. "We took you back to give you a choice. You and-" She sighed, before turning to the Duplicate. "What's your name?" she asked.

He shrugged before giving his reply. "John's as good a name as any, I guess."

Romana turned back to Rose. "You and John can either explore _this_ Universe...or stay in N-Space."

"What do you mean?" Rose asked. This time however, it was the Doctor who answered.

"We're gonna give you a piece of TARDIS Coral," he told her. "Plant it and give it a bit of Time. When it's done, it should grow into another TARDIS." John and Rose's faces lit up at this.

"Goodbye, Doctor," Rose told him. She then turned to his lover. "Nice meeting ya, Romana."

"My pleasure, Rose Tyler," Romana replied with a smile. "Thanks for putting him back together after the loss of Gallifrey."

"Bye, Rose," the Doctor bade her farewell. "Have fun exploring this Universe with John." His attention turned to John. "You as well."

"Same for you," John replied. "Have a good life with Romana."

The Doctor nodded before turning to head back into the TARDIS, Romana and Donna following him. Moments later, the TARDIS disappeared from Pete's World for the last time...

*DW* **_...N-Space...Earth..._** *DW*

**"Are** you sure you want to go back?" Romana asked Donna. The Human woman nodded.

"Travelling with the Doctor...it's amazin'," Donna admitted. "But it's also terrifying. And I've just seen a whole race of pepperpots try to destroy ev'rything. I just...can't carry on..."

"Fair enough," the Doctor cut in. "Welcome back to Chiswick." So saying, the trio stepped out of the TARDIS into the neighbourhood, heading over to Donna's house. When they got there, they found Wilfred Mott waiting for them.

"Donna!" he cried happily. He allowed himself to be caught in his granddaughter's embrace, before turning to the Doctor and Romana, his gaze resting on the Time Lady with curiosity and awe. "You're the woman off the computer! Romana, wasn't it?"

"Yes," Romana replied. "So your laptop was connected to the Network then? Only you didn't have a webcam?" Wilf nodded. "So that's how Rose knew we were talking."

"You two look after one another, alright?" Donna told them sternly. They nodded. "Best of luck finding Ariva Lykos. And Romana...do your best to wind him up." This garnered an 'Oi!' from the Doctor.

"Thank you, Donna," Romana replied smiling. "And don't worry...I intend to." With that, the Time Lords headed back to the TARDIS. Moments later, it dematerialised...

*DW* **_...in the Time Vortex...the TARDIS..._** *DW*

**"So** then!" exclaimed the Doctor joyously – he now had Romana back with him, after over 150 years of waiting. "Shall we try and find Ariva Lykos?!"

"Oh yes!" Romana cried happily – she had long ago realised she loved the Doctor, and now she was back with him. With that, the Time Lord couple began searching the TARDIS Databank for the Planet of the Bad Wolf...

*END*


End file.
